Chapter 52: Exploded (4K, begging for follow-up reading, read, read)

With training and previous experience in killing zombies, Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan's movements were much more proficient. Both their strength and accuracy had improved greatly.

After four or five hits, the zombie's skull cracked, its arms twitched, and it lay on the ground, no longer moving.

"Wow!"

Zheng Xinyu retched as expected, patted her chest, swallowed hard, and whispered, "It's a good thing I didn't eat, it's a good thing I didn't eat..."

"It's morning exercise, of course, we have to do it before breakfast!"

Zhang Su didn't do anything; he stood on the stairs. Seeing the zombie was finished off, he walked over and squatted down to loot the equipment.

"Brother Su, let me do it."

Zhong Xiaoshan volunteered. She squatted down nimbly and rummaged through the zombie's pockets. Soon, she found a mobile phone with a broken screen, a bunch of keys, half a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter from the male zombie.

"These are the only useful things." Zhong Xiaoshan handed the items to Zhang Su.

Zhang Su nodded in approval, stuffed everything into his bag, and continued, "Your movements were still a bit awkward just now. Adjust your movements; you can use more strength. Try to finish off the zombies in less time."

"The faster you finish off a zombie, the safer you are. Look at my movements. If you're smashing downwards, the movements of other parts of your body must be coordinated like this..."

After putting the things away, Zhang Su gave them a lesson.

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan listened very attentively, knowing that these techniques were the key to saving their lives in the future, so they didn't dare to be negligent.

After Zhang Su guided them a few times and let them practice a few more times, he nodded to Zheng Xinyu. "You saw how I operated just now, right? Xinyu, you go this time. The action of closing the door must be light!"

"Help me keep an eye out, okay? If something goes wrong, you must save me."

Zheng Xinyu wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth and said nervously.

"Don't worry."

Zhang Su patted her back lightly.

Zheng Xinyu couldn't stand the sight of blood and gore, which even exceeded her fear of zombies, but she was still calm when luring them.

Following the example, she soon lured a female zombie out of the safety door, kicked it while closing the door, and the task was completed.

Zhang Su and Zhong Xiaoshan cooperated and finished off the zombie almost instantly.

Looking at the wrench stained with various fluids, Zhang Su said, "It's necessary to go to the Ileiwen convenience store. There are some good daggers hidden there. You two practice accuracy and strength first; it will be easier to use daggers when the time comes!"

Actively attracting zombies to kill them one by one consumes stamina slowly, but if you encounter a large group of zombies in an encounter, the stamina consumption will be astonishing!

Zhong Xiaoshan finished looting the equipment and said awkwardly, "I guess she put her things in her bag; there's nothing on her..."

Zhang Su didn't care. People who turned into zombies suddenly wouldn't have many supplies on them, unless the refugees carrying big and small bags turned into zombies.

"Several days have passed, and the smell is getting worse and worse..."

Zheng Xinyu fanned her small hand in front of her nose, feeling very helpless.

When the zombie outbreak first started, only the smell of blood filled the air, but now there was a rotting, sour stench floating around, which made people feel very uncomfortable.

"This is still after the temperature dropped. If it were the temperature from before, I'm afraid the smell would be even more 'sour and refreshing'..."

Zhang Su also shook his head. There was no way around this. There were more dead people than living people in the residential area, and more zombies than dead people, so the stench of rot would inevitably get heavier.

"That... Brother Su, Sister Xinyu, I'm going up."

Zhong Xiaoshan was very self-aware. Knowing it was her turn after Zheng Xinyu, she picked up the large wrench and walked upstairs.

"Remember, close the door lightly, strike hard!"

Zhang Su reminded her.

"Hmm, okay!"

Contrary to Zheng Xinyu's disgust for bloody scenes, Zhong Xiaoshan was a bit afraid of zombies. She had tried her best to overcome it, but some fears couldn't be immunized just by saying so.

Walking cautiously behind the safety door, Zhong Xiaoshan imitated Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu, pulling the safety door open slowly. She curled up, not daring to breathe.

She didn't know if the zombies knew that the person hiding behind the door was trembling, but they were increasingly working against her, and none walked out of the safety door for a long time.

Zhong Xiaoshan stared fixedly at the edge of the door panel, her ears straining to listen for the sound of zombie footsteps. The hand holding the door handle trembled slightly, and she became more and more nervous as time passed.

Time passed second by second. The process of waiting was very agonizing, and long-term concentration would numb the senses, making hearing, vision, and reaction dull.

Just like Zhong Xiaoshan at this moment, a zombie had already walked out of the safety door with a twisted gait, but she hadn't reacted in the first instance.

It wasn't until the zombie turned its head to look at her that she suddenly realized...

Blood vessels were dense under the blue-gray skin, its eyes were red, and its mouth full of white teeth looked like a life-taking blade. All of this appeared before her eyes so suddenly.

Zhong Xiaoshan's heart pounded, her brain exploded with a buzz, and she subconsciously let go. The safety door rebounded and hit the zombie, making a *slap* sound.

Awoo!

The stimulation caused the zombie to erupt. With a strange cry, it reached out to grab Zhong Xiaoshan.

After Zhong Xiaoshan came to her senses, she completely forgot how to handle it. She swung the iron wrench from bottom to top and gave the zombie a hard hit.

Thump, thump, thump.

The zombie had great strength, but its balance was truly average. After its chin was attacked, it fell backward and tumbled down the stairs.

However, the real danger had just arrived!

The five zombies remaining on the 12th floor heard the commotion and immediately rushed toward the safety door with their "six-kin-don't-recognize" gait.

The safety door that hadn't been closed in time was instantly knocked open!

"Jump!"

Zhang Su knew it was bad when he saw Zhong Xiaoshan fighting with the zombie. Just as he was about to go up, he was blocked by the fallen zombie. He rushed up again to close the door, only to see the zombies lining up to go out. He roared at the terrified Zhong Xiaoshan.

This shout instantly drew the zombies' attention away from Zhong Xiaoshan, creating a brief opportunity.

Zhong Xiaoshan thought she was going to die. After hearing Zhang Su's shout, she came to her senses, gave the zombie in front of her a hard wrench, and jumped down the stairs, regardless of whether she would break her leg.

Zhang Su dared to let Zhong Xiaoshan jump because he naturally had a way to resolve it.

He aimed at the direction and stretched out his arms, trying to shorten the distance between them as much as possible. After contact, he didn't use brute force to resist the impact, but instead led her downward, resolving the impact force while adjusting the direction.

Splat.

Zhong Xiaoshan sat on the back of the fallen zombie.

She couldn't care about anything else. She kicked her feet and stood up, holding the iron wrench high, ready to meet the zombies following closely behind.

"Go, hide first!"

Zhang Su pulled the two women to the side leading to the 11th floor at the stair landing.

Rumble.

After the three of them dodged, a series of falling sounds occurred one after another. The zombies chasing downstairs fell one after another, tumbling like gourds, falling on the stair landing and stacking up on the previous three corpses like an Arhat.

"Do it!"

Zhang Su gave a low drink and swung the sharp axe in his hand at the zombie whose head was facing his side.

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan weren't slow either. They also swung their weapons at the pile of zombies in front of them.

In an instant, dense *splat-splat* sounds echoed in the hallway, mixed with the delicate cries of women when they exerted force, and the *thump-thump* sounds of hard objects hitting the ground.

The zombies were very aggrieved. One stacked on top of another, they had no intelligence and didn't know how to cooperate. They couldn't climb up at all, and their sharp teeth lost their use. They stretched their long necks to bite fresh flesh, but were met with a hammer instead.

The battle didn't last long. About two minutes later, Zhang Su was the first to stop. He panted and looked seriously at the bloody scene.

"They're all dead. Stop."

After saying this, he slowly retreated, leaned against the wall, and slid down to the ground. He wanted to reach out and wipe the blood off his face, but seeing his sleeves were even worse, he didn't care about the low temperature. He took off his clothes, wiped his face and hands with the lining, and then threw the clothes onto the pile of zombies.

Thump, thump.

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan collapsed to the side one after another, their weapons sliding away, their fingers, arms, and entire upper bodies trembling.

The stair landing turned into a hellish scene...

The dead zombies were beaten to pieces, and the three survivors looked like evil ghosts from hell!

"No, I said, why did you start fighting with the zombies right at the door?"

Zhang Su massaged his palms to relax and kicked Zhong Xiaoshan with his foot, annoyed.

"I... I waited for a long time, and after seeing the zombie, I acted subconsciously."

Zhong Xiaoshan felt a lingering fear at this moment. Her courage had grown, but she still made a mistake.

"You were still nervous. It would have been better if I had neutralized you." Zheng Xinyu said, lying on the ground. "That way you wouldn't be afraid of zombies, and I wouldn't retch when I saw something disgusting..."

"A good training session turned into this... Come on, tell me about the mistakes just now, and what tricks you discovered."

Zhang Su stopped dwelling on the previous mistakes. Summarizing progress was the key.

"I'll go first..." Zheng Xinyu said. "Because I was too excited, I didn't see the target clearly when I struck, and I missed many times, wasting a lot of energy..."

The three of them gradually calmed down and talked about the mistakes and experiences in the process just now. Post-war summaries can effectively improve the ability to handle emergencies and combat skills.

After the summary was almost done, Zhang Su said, "I said before that if you mess up, you have to be punished. Xiaoshan, remember that, right?"

"I remember, I remember, it's deserved. I accept any punishment..."

Zhong Xiaoshan felt her pounding heart and only felt that being alive was the happiest thing. Punishment is punishment; it's nothing.

"Although things were messed up, you still made progress. You didn't scream and shout like before, but you still need to overcome your psychological barriers. Sit here and practice your courage yourself. Sit for half an hour, then jump down the stairs for ten minutes. Be careful not to get injured, and then, um..."

Zhang Su frowned and thought.

Zheng Xinyu grinned. "Hey, shouldn't the reward and punishment system be clearly defined, open, and transparent in advance? Why are you thinking of it on the fly? Damn, is this a dictatorship... Xiaoshan, let's protest!"

"No, no, these punishments are for my own good..."

Zhong Xiaoshan waved her hands repeatedly at Zheng Xinyu.

Zhang Su looked at Zheng Xinyu with some confusion. He had originally thought that after last night, the relationship between the two would be a bit discordant, and he was prepared to mediate, but he didn't expect it to become increasingly harmonious, and they even started helping each other?

"The previous two items, plus taking the thick clothes from the families upstairs back later, that's it!"

Everything from the 8th floor up was completely safe, without a single zombie. Zhang Su was very relieved for Zhong Xiaoshan to act alone.

"Okay, Brother Su, I'll start now..."

Zhong Xiaoshan accepted the punishment happily. She wasn't in a hurry to eat. She immediately found a place to sit down, staring face-to-face at the bloody zombies. Her serious appearance was like returning to her favorite class in her student days.

Breakfast and lunch were combined into one meal. After lunch, the three of them reorganized the clothes Zhong Xiaoshan had collected and picked out the ones that could be worn.

"Brother Su, you look so strange in this outfit..."

Zheng Xinyu couldn't help but laugh as she watched Zhang Su put on a stand-up collar jacket, looking just like a newly appointed cadre.

Zhang Su stretched his sleeves to look, then pressed the stand-up collar down and grinned. "What time is it now? Just make do. It's a genuine Yier, at least two or three thousand per piece. It's very warm!"

Except for the style, which was a bit hard to describe, it was very good in other aspects. It was not only warm but also fit well, and didn't affect joint movement much.

Zhong Xiaoshan also couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. "Brother Su, wearing this jacket, you look like a leader inspecting the unit, and your figure looks very clean and honest."

"Is that so?"

Zhang Su cooperated very well and struck a bureaucratic pose, pointing at the two of them commandingly. "The little girl is very watery, you should show off your good looks, and this little girl, your figure is good, I'll guide you tonight..."

Rumble...

Who would have thought that at this moment, a huge explosion sounded, followed by violent shaking.

Zhang Su and the others could barely stand still and hurriedly lay on the bed to avoid falling.

"The building exploded!?"

Zhang Su was covered in cold sweat. He rushed out of the bedroom in one step and ran to the windowsill. Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan also followed him out, their faces filled with terror.

There was still a chance of winning against zombies, but if the house really collapsed...

The chance of survival was definitely lower than being besieged by zombies!

"Holy crap!"

Zheng Xinyu rushed to Zhang Su's side and looked out, unable to help but cover her mouth with her hand.

A violent explosion occurred in the adjacent unit, but due to the field of vision, the specific situation couldn't be seen. Only rolling black smoke rose from below, and tongues of fire could be seen raging against the glass.

Zhang Su didn't speak, but heard someone shouting in his ears.

"Hahaha! Burn, wife, son, I'm coming to accompany you, burn, ah!!!"

The crazy shouting didn't last long before it stopped in a miserable cry full of resentment.

"Damn, lunatic!"

Zhang Su scolded with a livid face. He didn't know what the man had detonated, but the violent explosion and raging fire in the adjacent unit would definitely affect his side.

"Zhang Su, what did you say?"

Zheng Xinyu didn't understand the seriousness of the matter yet and asked Zhang Su in a daze.

Zhang Su shook his head and didn't answer Zheng Xinyu's question. He suddenly noticed something, looked up at the opposite side, and sure enough, found someone!

Qin Ya leaned out of the window and waved his clothes continuously. Seeing that the young man across the way finally noticed him, he shouted fiercely, "Run, leave the unit!"

Some readers mentioned the protection problem of blood splashing. I forgot to explain this. I thought in my heart that the setting was that the splashing wouldn't transmit infection, but I forgot to write it...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 53 =====